Drawbar-centering device



F. 7B. TOWNSEND.

DRAWBAR CENTERING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I2, 1919.

Patented Mar 299 WZL If III...

NH L

IIIIIIIII II f l l l I I I |||I` entre@ stares PATIENT @FFICO FREDERICK B. TOWNSEND, 0F HINSDALJE, ILLINOIS, ASSIQNOR TO WILLIAM.' E. lMINEFI, 0F CHAZY, NEW YORK.

nnawBnR-onitrnniite nnvion.

Specification of Letters Patent. y

Application tiled June 12, 1919. Serial No. 303,735.

To all whom t may concern.' Be it known thatl I FREDERICK B. TOWN- sEND a citizen of the Inited States, residing at I-Iinsdale, in the county of Dupage, and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new andfuseful Improvement in Drawbar- Centering Devices, of which the following isa full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s, forming a part of this specification.

his invention relates to improvements in draw bar centering devices.

In the operation of railway cars, and particularly locomotives, by which term 1s included the tender, radially movable or swingngly mounted draw bars are employed and in order to limit their swinging movements, centerin devices have been utilized adapted to yiel ingl resist swinging movements beyond a pre etermined amount. In the case of locomotive draw bars, the same are relatively short and it is undesirable to permit too great a swinging movement thereof. Occasionally, however, when a locomotive is coupled to a car standing on a track of short radius, ithas been found diliicult to swing the draw bar of the locomotive suliicient y to permit proper engagement with the coupler of the car. 'Ihe object of my invention is to provide a centering device for swinging draw bars, and more particularly, short swinging draw bars of locomotives which will be ei'ective for limiting the swinging movements of the draw bar under all normal conditions and which at the same time is provided with means easily operable by the brakeman, to permit the 'draw bar to swing to eitherside a greater distance than is normally permitted in order to take care of anyabnormal or unusual conditions incident to the coupling operation.

In the drawing forming a part of this speciication, Figure 1 is a' horizontal, sectional view of a portion of a locomotive underframe and associated draw bar with my improvements in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view, taken substantially on the line 2v2 of Fig. 1. And Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of one of the centering devices.

In said drawing, 10 denotesl a cou ler of well yknown-form having a shank 11 w ich is relatively short, said shank being pivoted as indicated at 12 to the yoke v13 which surrounds the shock absorbing mechanism indicated partly at 14. rIhe shock absorbing mechanism or draft gear is mounted in a cast underframe construction indicated generally by the reference 15. As will be understood,

the underframe of locomotives, including the tenders, is usually a heavy castin with the end sill formed integrally therewith and in the construction illustrated, the end sill is so shown. The end sill is designated by the reference 16 and a Haring mouth 17 is provided for the outer end of the yoke and the swinging movements of the coupler shank. A. draw bar carry-iron preferably in the form of a casting, is indicated at 18, the same being bolted to the underframe casting, as illustrated in Fig. 2. 'Ihe casting may also be provided with a striking block indicated at 19 in Fig. 2.

In order to center the draw bar, I provide the following means: Mounted on the draw bar carrier casting 18, on each side of the draw bar shank, are two sets of devices and inasmuch as both are the same, it will only be necessar to' detail the description of one of them. ach of said devices comprises a substantially rectangular hollowy casingy 20 adapted to be rigidly attached to the carrier casting 18 by any suitable means, such as the bolts 21. and has mounted therein a spring 22. rIhe casing 20 is arranged at an acute angle to the shank of the draw bar, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1.

Slidably mounted within the casing 20 is a plunger or piston 23 having an' enlarged outer end conformed to fit within the casing y20.- Rearwardly of said enlarged end, the plunger has a stem 24 which passes within the spring 22. At itsinner end, that is, the

end adjacent the draw bar shank, the plunger is provided with a rounded face indicated at 25 to form a better bearing for the shank when it swings into engagement therewith, and to reduce frictional'wear on the inner walls of the casing 20,

At the outer end of the casing 20, a detachable wall 26 is provided, the same being centrally perforated to accommodate thel stem 24 and the latter may have a cotter 27 'extending through an elongated slot 38therein Said casing 20 isv open at each end.

Patented Mar. 29, 122111..' i

to hold the parts in assembled relation. Said wall 26 is cutaway as indicated at 28 to ac-l commodate the Cotter 27 and to hold the wall -26 normally in place, ll use a forked pin 29.

The latter is insertible and removable through'appropriate vertically alined openings 30 and 31 in the upper and lower walls, extended, of the shell 20, said extended ends bein indicated by the references 32 and 33. Theower ends ot the :forks of the pin 29 are preferably tapered as indicated at 84 in order to facilitate insertion thereof. ln order to prevent accidental loss of the forked pin, ll use a chain 35 connected at one end to the pin and at its other end to a suitable eye-bolt or other fastening 36 on the underframe casting.

lVi-th the construction shown, it is evident that a slight clearance is normally left between the shank 1l and the rounded ends 25 of the yielding abutments. Movement of the draw bar shank beyond this predetermined amount will ress the corresponding plunger outwar y against a yielding spring so that, in actual service when the draw bar is coupled to another car, the shank will be permitted all movement necessary. At the same time, the draw bar will be maintained in its central position when uncoupled, thus facilitating the coupling o eration under all normal conditions. hen an abnormal condition occurs, as 'for' instance, when the locomotive and carto which it is to be connected are on a track of very short radiusjit is evident that the brakeman cannot set the coupler to the required angle to ei'ect the coupling and, of course, 1s not permitted or supposed to be between the cars during the coupling operation. Tc meet this condition, l have provided the removable end walls 26 of the casings. The brakeman therefore removes the proper forked pin, thus releasing theend wall 26 and thereby eliminating c the fixed abutments for the,

outer end ofl the spring. .Under these conditions, the brakeman can', of course, swing the coupler to the necessary angle as indicated, for instance, byithe dotted lines 111 in Fig. .1l and thereby ed'ect the coupling of the cars. After the coupling has been effected, the end wall 26 can be replaced and the forked pin again insertcd,-leaving the parts in their normal relation.

The arrangement which ll have provided is simple, easily operable and relatively no more expensive t`an other centering devices now on the market and which cannot be used under certain abnormal conditions, such as above indicated.

ll claim:

v1l. In a draw bar centering device for locomotives and the like having a swingingly mounted draw bar, the combination with yielding ahutments on each side of the draw bar shank adapted to permit normal swinging movements thereof, 'of means Lerares yielding abutments adapted, when detached,`

to permit a displacement 4of said abutments free from the yielding resistance4 to readilyI accommodate a swinging. movement of the draw bar greater than normal.

2. lin a draw bar centering device` for railway rolling stock having a Swingin l mounted draw bar, the combination wit independent yielding abutments on each side of the draw bar shank, of means manually removable and re laceable without the aid of tools associate with each of said abutments adapted, when removed from normal position, to permit' a displacement of the yielding abutments -free from the yielding resistance to thereby readily accommodate greater than normal swinging movements of the draw bar.

3. ln a device of the character described, the combination with the end frame of a car and a pivotally mounted draw bar, of lindependent centering devices ony each side of the draw bar shank, each device including a plunger adapted to be engaged by the draw bar shank, a spring casing, a spring within the casing yieldingly resisting movement of said plunger, and an abutment freely manually detachable and replaceable for one end of said spring.

t. ln a lcentering device for a swingingly mounted draw bar, centering devices on each side of the shank of the draw bar, each of said centeringdevices including a casing mounted on an adjacent part of the car underframe, a detachable end wall for the casing, freel manually removable means for holding sai( end wall normally in place, a spring within the casing bearing at one end against said wall, and a lunger against which the other end of said spring bears, the plunger being in line With the draw bar lshank and adapted to coperate with the atter.

llllt' 5".' Inv an arrangement ofA the character l described, the combination with l the car underirame structure and a swingingly mounted draw bar, of centering means for said draw bar, said centering means comprising two like devices one on each sideIl of the draw. bar shank, each of said devices mounted within-172e for draw bars 1,25

ofthe draw bar for centering the latter, it@

nemen@ @3 each o seid devices comprisin n casing detnchmbly secured to the undenxnnne structure, n removne end wall n@ the @neer end. of .the casing, n deznchnble in nenmnlly 5 holding said end Well in position, n plunger' at the inner en of the casing and adapted to be engaged by @he brnw bnn, end n Spring interposed between amid plunger and the removnbe end welll @he cnsin in Winess the@ JI claim the nire ning 3l le] have benennen subscribed my name t ie 23nd dey of Eday, 1919.

FREDERICK B. TWNSEND. 

